


i was on your side and i was holding on

by Care



Category: Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 22:23:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5472761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Care/pseuds/Care
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aliens come to London. Or, one alien in particular.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i was on your side and i was holding on

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smallandsundry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallandsundry/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, Smalls! Sorry this fic is such garbage-y garbage. But please enjoy a happy Christmastime alien romp from these two!
> 
> Title from CHVRCHES's Empty Threat.
> 
> In case anyone's curious, [this is what the alien looks like.](http://santani.deviantart.com/art/My-Little-Dragon-Grey-one-489655334)

On the afternoon the aliens arrive, Maddie's studying for her final exams in the library. She's not doing so much studying as staring out the window, but she's there, sitting in the library in any case, eyeing the overcast sky and thinking about how much she wants a cup of coffee. Normally, she muses, she'd drink it black — because morning coffee is utilitarian and not for taste — and it exists for the sole purpose of waking her up. But this, this would be afternoon coffee, a luxurious treat for a cold December day. She'll add milk and sugar to it, a dash of cinnamon on top, and she'll curl her hands around it so the heat soaks into her skin.

That's what's on her mind when the UFO appears in the sky, fading in and out like a computer glitch. Maddie blinks, still thinking mostly of coffee, and then stares. She stands up, the textbook sliding off her lap, and presses her face to the window. The glass is a shock of cold against her nose, but she pays it no mind — there's an honest-to-god _spaceship_ hovering behind the clock tower at the edge of campus. Maddie can hear other students clamoring around her, people running over to have a look at the spectacle themselves. They jam together, pointing and shouting, with Maddie trapped in their midst.

She's probably not going to get that coffee, Maddie realizes. Instead she slides her hand into the back pocket of her jeans and pulls out her mobile. She's had it on silent for the last hour and there are three text messages from Julie, right there on the lock screen — the first two innocuous and the third, all in capital letters: _WHERE ARE YOU? THERE ARE ALIENS OUTSIDE._ Maddie stares down at it, the words seeming funny to her. Unreal. Because this can't be happening. She has an exam tomorrow and another the day after, and then she'll get to go home to her grandparents' house where it's Christmas.

She was going to do her annual rewatch of Love Actually and live-text the event to Julie while lying on the ratty old couch in the living room. It was going to be glorious.

 _I'm in the library. Studying. Was studying. I can see the aliens,_ Maddie taps back. She hesitates for a second, and then adds an alien emoji. The bloke who's squeezed in next to her has his phone up to the window, taking a video.

Her mobile buzzes in her hand. _STAY THERE. COMING IN A MO._

As if Maddie would run outside with _aliens_ floating above the quad. She looks out the window again. Their ship's just there, not moving, not doing anything. Maddie wonders if they're surveying London. She wonders what they're there to do.

Julie arrives ten minutes later, only slightly out of breath from running across campus, and pink-cheeked from the cold. It's very unfair how pretty she looks — golden hair escaping her messy ponytail, eyes bright and shiny — but there isn't time to think about it. Besides, Maddie's thought about it enough. Julie's practically vibrating with energy, her whole body trembling with it. She elbows her way between Maddie and the boy next to her, disarming his protest with a quick smile, and leans in close to Maddie. She smells strongly of mint, and beneath that, cigarette smoke. She's promised Maddie that she'll quit in the new year.

"I can't believe it," Julie says, keeping her voice low. "It's like a movie."

Maddie worries her bottom lip. A very bad movie. "Aliens are never friendly in those kinds of films. Do you think that this is an elaborate hoax or something?"

"Or something," Julie says, keeping her eyes trained on the quad. Her expression is almost feverish. "I wonder…"

"What?"

Julie's silent for a moment longer. "Nothing," she says finally.

Maddie turns back to the window and they stand there, their shoulders pressed together. The whole library watches, until, six minutes and forty-three seconds later, the UFO disappears entirely.

"I didn't expect that," Maddie says, when it doesn't come back.

"Hmm," Julie murmurs in reply.

 

*

 

They walk back to their flat after that, stamping their feet to keep warm. Maddie always feels slightly shabby next to Julie. Her clothes are cobbled together from vintage shops and always slightly too big for her. Not like Julie's nicely-tailored outfits. Julie's always been put-together, even when she isn't. It must be the posh upbringing. Maddie glances at her now — Julie's got her brows furrowed as she walks, the heels of her boots clicking against the pavement, and her hands are stuffed into the pockets of her beautiful long coat. Maddie knows she's looking very grubby in comparison, wearing a ratty men's jumper that's fraying at the cuffs.

"What are you thinking about?" Julie asks, her breath spiraling out into the cold air.

"Me? You're the one who's been quiet for the last fifteen minutes." Maddie pauses as they crest the hill before their building. "My exams," she says, once they've reached the top. She's lying, of course, though they're in the back of her mind. She's gotten in a quarter of the studying she was meant to do earlier.

Julie reaches for Maddie's hand, tangling their fingers together. She squeezes. "You're going to be brilliant," she says, and squeezes again. "If there are still exams even, after everything today."

"I wish I could know for sure," Maddie says, trying to ignore the feeling of Julie's hand twined around hers. She thinks her voice comes out a bit higher than usual, strange and unsteady to her own ears. "Then I wouldn't have to study so much."

They stop outside of the front door, Maddie fumbling through her bag for the keys. Julie gets there first though — fishing hers out of the pocket of her smart coat. Even her movements are cleaner than Maddie's, sharper. She twists the key in a swift motion, pushes the door in simultaneously. Maddie's not a dolt, certainly, but there's a level of elegance to Julie that she half-admires, half-envies. She trails Julie into the dark stairwell, and they walk up the three flights in silence. The stairs creak beneath their weight. Julie unlocks the door to their flat, a wisp of her hair curling in her face, and Maddie feels the furious rhythm of her heart as she watches.

"I'll put on some tea," Julie says, not looking back, striding down the long hallway to the kitchen.

 

*

 

Fancying her best friend is a bit of a cliche, Maddie knows. She didn't mean to do it, but she's sort of been in love with Julie since the moment they met, so. It's not like she meant for it to happen. She just knew that she had a crush on the small blond girl on her dormitory floor, without knowing her name at first, and that's how it was for months. Aside from occasional encounters in the hallway, and sometimes brushing their teeth together in the bathroom, Maddie didn't know much about Julie. It was a fun crush — one of those mild, buzzy things that Maddie enjoyed in a vague kind of way.

It probably would have stayed that way too, if not for the big Halloween party. There had been flyers around the college for weeks, advertising the event. Maddie's friends and roommate, Beryl, bought their tickets ages in advance. Maddie had left it too long and the party sold out, much to Maddie's relief. Instead she helped the other girls get ready, hair and makeup and nails — things Maddie wasn't very good at, really, but no one complained and she thought she did a rather decent job on Beryl's face. She waved them all off as they headed out into the crisp October air, teetering in their heels.

The dorm was very quiet after they had gone, and Maddie wondered idly if she was the only one left. The idea made her feel slightly giddy. She armed herself with crisps and beer, taking her snacks to the empty common room. Maddie sprawled on the sofa. There was a kind of bliss to this — being alone. University was different than home. Maddie hadn't been properly alone in weeks. But for two hours she could watch whatever she wanted and no one would disturb her and Maddie felt happier than she had all day.

She was halfway through a new episode of Doctor Who when she heard "oh shit" from the doorway. When Maddie looked up, there was Julie, looking back at her. She had on pajamas, blue cotton ones with little polka dots, and a bag of microwave popcorn. Maddie felt suddenly strange, a handful of crisps halfway to her mouth. The whole front of her sweatshirt was dirty with crumbs and she was a wearing a pair of men's striped boxers that she had gotten in a pack at Asda (3 for £10 — very economical).

"Hullo," she said stupidly, feeling how greasy her fingers were, the half-empty crisp bag on the cushion next to her.

"Hello," Julie said back. She tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ears. "You're Maddie, right? Maddie Brodatt. I've passed by your door a few times. Sorry I haven't introduced myself before. I'm Julie. I live on the other end of the hall from you, I think."

"Yeah, Maddie. Hi. It's lovely to meet you. I've seen you around too." Maddie nodded at her full hand. "Um. I'd shake your hand, but as you can see — "

Julie laughed. It was — Maddie decided immediately — the greatest sound she had ever heard. God, she was pathetic. "No, don't worry about it. Please, eat your crisps." She plopped herself down on the other side of Maddie. "I thought everyone was out at the Halloween party. I didn't think anyone would still be here."

"It sold out before I could get a ticket," Maddie said, realizing, to her horror, that she was blushing. "Why aren't you there though?"

"Didn't want to go," Julie said easily, without a trace of regret. "Couldn't wait to get a night to myself."

"Well, I'm almost done with this episode, so if you want…"

Julie sprang upright. "No, no. I wouldn't dream of kicking you out. Stay. Honestly. Unless you don't want to be bothered, in which case I should go — "

"You don't have to go," Maddie cut her off. "I was just watching Doctor Who. You can stay if you want."

They regarded each other and Julie smiled luminously. "Thank you, Maddie Brodatt. I think I will."

 

*

 

The next morning Maddie wakes up to the sound of the electric kettle beeping and sunlight sneaking in between her curtains. She rolls over, wincing from the brightness, and drags herself to her feet. Julie's not in the kitchen. Her bedroom's door flung wide open, but she's not in there either. Maddie makes them both cups of tea, still mostly asleep, tying the strings of the teabags around the mug handles. The tea steams gently on the counter as Maddie pads through the flat, searching for Julie.

Bathroom's empty, though the cold water tap's dripping. Maddie idly tightens it. No Julie in the living room either. Maddie even opens the front door to see if she's on the landing, but no. She can hear their neighbors getting ready for work downstairs, the sound of morning news filtering up through the stairwell. Maddie shuts the door again, puzzled, and returns to the mugs of tea. She drinks hers as she makes herself two slices of toast, growing more and more confused by the minute.

Who puts the kettle on and disappears just as it boils?

Julie's tea has gone entirely cold by the time she reappears. Maddie thinks she should just dump it as she shrugs into a plaid button-up shirt, rolling the sleeves past her elbows. She spreads her textbook and lecture notes across the kitchen table, taking up almost the entire surface, and tries to put her mind to studying. Julie's been gone for at least an hour — maybe more — and she hasn't responded to any of Maddie's texts. Still, it's not like she could've gone too far and sometimes Julie got distracted when she popped out to the shops. Maddie tells herself not to worry. She always worries about Julie.

"Maddie!" Julie gasps, flinging open the front door with a loud thud. There's a noise like she's dropped something heavy on the floor.

Maddie drops her pen and runs into the hallway. Julie's struggling on the ground, her arms clutching something — is it a _cat_? But cats aren't blue, or no cats that Maddie has ever seen. Whatever it is, the animal makes a screeching noise so horrible that both Julie and Maddie reach up to cover their hears, and it takes the opportunity to dive beneath the couch in the living room. Julie sighs, still on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"Well, at least it's safe," she says, shutting the open front door with a foot.

"What…is it?" Maddie asks. She eyes the couch warily. "A cat?"

Julie's cheeks pink. Maddie looks quizzically at her. "It wasn't my fault," Julie says quickly. "I wasn't looking for it or anything. I went out for some eggs, and I saw it in a corner with some rubbish bins, and it just looked so cold and sad, and I thought maybe I would bring it back to clean it up a bit — "

"I don't mind cats. You know Gran has at least four she's feeding from around the neighborhood." Maddie gets on her hands and knees and peers beneath the couch. Two giant eyes stare back at her, unblinking. "I mean, I don't think we can keep it unless you talk George into keeping it somehow. I won't put it past you, of course. I bet you could. And Nell's got that horrible little dog downstairs anyway, and George hasn't noticed because he's half-blind — "

"It's not a cat, Maddie," Julie says, her voice oddly loud.

"What?" Maddie asks, distracted, holding out her hand for the mysterious cat to sniff. 

The eyes blink slowly at her. Maddie reaches in her other hand, inch by inch, and she seizes it around the middle, dragging out the animal into the light. The not-cat stares up at her, blue and fuzzy, little horns poking their way out of the top of its forehead, its giant ears folded down like a very large rabbit or maybe a mouse and it's definitely, certainly _not_ an animal that Maddie has ever seen in her whole entire life.

Maddie, of course, screams.

"It's an alien!" she hears Julie yelling over the noise. "I found an alien!"

 

*

 

Later — once Maddie has calmed down and can properly breathe again and Julie's given the _alien_ a small bowl of water that it first sniffs and then thrusts its face into and they've made another two cups of tea — they sit in the living room and watch the small blue _thing_ wander around the rug, sniffing at its new surroundings. There's their tiny Christmas tree in the corner — the dwarf tree, they had dubbed it when they brought it home two weeks ago and strung with lights and tinsel. The alien doesn't seem to think much of it though. It seems especially intrigued by the DVD player and pokes one of buttons with a nubby finger.

"It looks like Stitch," Maddie says, afraid to go near it. "You know. Lilo and Stitch. Except it has a giant tail."

"I think it's adorable," Julie says.

"Stitch is adorable," Maddie points out. She takes a sip of her tea. It's not even noon yet. It's barely ten in the morning. "Julie, what are we going to do with it?"

"I didn't really have much of a plan beyond bringing it home." Julie looks happily at it though. Julie's always looking of adventure. An alien's certainly a better adventure than any of the "shocking exposes" Julie's done for the school newspaper. "I swear, Maddie darling, he looked positively pathetic by the bins. I had to. It would have been cruel to leave him."

"Do you think he's one of the aliens from yesterday?"

"He must be. Not that many aliens coming through London. Not that I know of, anyway."

The alien makes a small yelping noise as the DVD player suddenly ejects and bops it on the nose. It jumps back, startled, and paws at its face. Julie tries to get closer to take a look, but the alien just makes a series of garbled sounds at her face, looking mad. It could almost be funny, if it weren't so straight-up _weird_. Maddie's trying not to think about it too much, but there's a real life alien interacting with her best friend in front of her face.

"Julie, what if it's dangerous?" Maddie says. "What if it leads all its alien mates to our flat?"

"It's fine. It hasn't hurt anyone."

"You don't know that."

Julie reaches out a cautious hand towards the alien. It freezes, its nose twitching. "I think it's just scared."

"I think we need to call someone. The police, maybe. Somebody should know it's here."

"Oh, Maddie, you wouldn't." Julie puts a careful finger on the alien's head. It doesn't move. She strokes it gently, barely even breathing, and Maddie can tell how much she's trying.

"…I guess not," Maddie says, observing the scene.

The alien lets Julie pet it, her fingers slowly moving their way through its fur. Julie stops after a second, her hand hover, and the alien butts her fingers with its head like a cat. Even Maddie has to admit it's pretty cute. Julie goes to absolute pieces, cooing at it as it lets Julie scratch it beneath its chin. If that even was a chin. It's not like Maddie is well-versed in alien anatomy.

"We should probably find the rest of them," Maddie says after another minute. "Give it back to its…clan."

Julie nods, distracted. "Yeah, I was thinking that. We should find the UFO."

"Great. Okay. That seems really simple. Just find the UFO. In London," Maddie says. "Perfect plan."

 

*

 

It doesn't turn out to be as difficult as Maddie thinks it'll be to track down the spaceship. She should have known, obviously. It's not exactly an inconspicuous thing. Julie's reading Twitter in her room and yelling through the open door various conspiracy theories about where the UFO is now. Maddie tries to do some more work, but it's hard with the little alien plodding around the kitchen, poking its head into different cabinets.

"Okay, that's where the bin is, so if you could just leave that alone — "

"Yes, but you can't crawl in there, even if you want to — "

"No, you _can't_ eat that. It's a pan and we need it to make food — "

Julie shouts from her bedroom: "Does it need to eat? It must be hungry. Is it eating metal or something, because maybe it does that?"

Maddie gives the alien a bowl with two Weetabix biscuits and it's enough to draw it away from the cabinets. It shoves an entire biscuit into its mouth, its cheeks bulging. Maddie walks over to the doorway of Julie's room. It's neat as a pin — clothes folded and put away in the dresser, every textbook lined up neatly on the bookshelf, the bed made up all tidy and wrinkle-free. Julie's sitting at her desk, framed by her window, all lit up and beautiful. Maddie feels her treacherous heart start to hammer in her chest.

"I've given it some Weetabix, so…" She looks away from Julie. It hurts sometimes, to stare at her.

"Oh, is it eating them?"

"Yeah. Seems to like it enough. Have you found anything?"

Julie motions for Maddie to come in and Maddie gingerly takes a seat on the edge of Julie's bed. She's always so conscious of how nicely Julie's made it in the mornings, and it feels wrong to destroy it somehow. Julie has no such qualms though — she hops onto the bed next to Maddie with an excited bounce. Honestly, Maddie hasn't seen her excited in months. She's practically incandescent.

"I've found some Tweets. It's been appearing in random spots around London. People have been Tweeting about it as soon as it shows up. We should just go, I think. Bring it with us."

Maddie thinks of her studying — shit, her exam is _tomorrow_ — but Julie's giving her this face that Maddie's not sure she can say no to, and how is Julie going to wrangle that little blue guy by herself anyway? It's such a terrible idea, but Maddie can't — she's not sure she can ignore — 

"All right," she hears herself saying. "Let's find it a crate or something though. Don't need it to frighten every person on the Tube."

How long can it take to get rid of the alien anyway? Maybe it'll be a quick job and she and Julie will be home for dinner.

Maybe.

(Somehow, Maddie's dubious.)

 

*

 

It's cold out and Maddie's ears are frozen. She stamps her feet to keep warm while Julie peers around alleys. The alien's _heavy_ , but thankfully not squirming any longer. Maddie's carrying it in an old camping backpack Julie dug out of the hall closet. She shifts it on her back, feeling the warm weight of the alien pressed against her. It's radiating heat, like a little blue furnace ball that snores. Maddie stares up at a string of fairy lights someone's hung from an upstairs balcony. They twinkle at her.

"Not here," Julie says, frowning. She's convinced somehow that the UFO can turn invisible at will. They've just been following a crude map drawn up by Tweets.

From the bag, the alien makes a sleepy chirp. "Shhh," Maddie says absently. "Don't you think the spaceship will be able to sense it if we get close? Maybe it'll reveal itself."

Julie squints at the sky between two tall buildings, as if she can catch an invisible distortion. "Perhaps. Come on. Give it to me. It's my turn to carry Stitch."

"Don't name it, Julie," Maddie warns as she passes the backpack over. "That's how Gran ended up with three of the four cats."

"I know I can't keep an alien," Julie says, though her voice seems wistful to Maddie. "Imagine trying to explain that to my family when they come visit. Or anyone I date."

There's a sharp pang in Maddie's chest. She grits her teeth, ignoring the stab of jealousy. Julie dates a lot — boys, girls — the only similarity is that they're all pretty. Last semester she was with an older man, mid-thirties, but they've broken things off now. Julie hasn't mentioned him in months. Meanwhile, Maddie's ex-girlfriend is still sending her long emails every once in a while, even though it's been at least half a year since they broke things off. Maybe Cass had sensed Maddie's feelings for Julie. Maybe Cass had sensed a lot of things.

"Guess an alien could be rough on your love life," Maddie says lightly.

And mine, she thinks belatedly as she follows Julie down to the next street. She wonders what's on her face though when Julie turns to her, suddenly, her expression very strange. She opens her mouth, as if to ask a question, and seems to think better of it.

"What?" Maddie asks.

"Nothing," Julie says.

 

*

 

It's late by the time they make their way back to the flat. Maddie's feet are aching and all she wants is to collapse into bed, but there's still the bloody exam that she's neglected to study for all day. She feels like she's walked all over London. They let Stitch out in the living room again and it sniffs around before curling up on the couch. Julie's right. It's pretty cute. Maddie turns away before she can think further along that vein though. What if they don't find the rest? What if the UFO left with it? God, she's going to have to call the police after all.

Maddie splashes water on her face in the bathroom to wake herself up. When she walks back into the kitchen, Julie's bent over her textbooks on the table.

"Oh god," Julie says. "I've been the worst friend, Maddie. I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about your exam. You should've said something. I could've taken Stitch out by myself."

"I know," Maddie says, not looking at Julie, gathering up her notes.

"Can it be salvaged?" Julie asks, putting a hand on Maddie's elbow.

Her hand is small and warm. Maddie feels like all her nerves are gathered in one spot, right there, her whole body tense because Julie's touching her. "I don't know," she says. "Probably," she tacks on, mostly to make Julie feel better, though she's not sure she believes it.

"Let me help you study."

"No, you've been running around all day. Go to bed."

"Maddie," Julie says, all firm and serious, which is odd because Julie is so bright and vivacious and not _serious_ most of the time. Because she's the fun one and Maddie's the shy one and that's how it's always been — the two of them, best friends. "Please. Let me help you."

"You'd be rubbish at it anyway. It's maths," Maddie says, but she's giving in now, and Julie can feel it too.

Julie moves towards the kitchen counter. "I'll make us some coffee. You spread everything out and let me know what to do. I'll quiz you."

It's moments like this that make Maddie wonder about Julie. How she can be so wonderful and so great and such an infuriatingly wonderful person. She's fearless and adventurous and breathtakingly clever. It would be intimidating to say the least if Maddie didn't know her — and sometimes Maddie even feels like she should be annoyed. But she can't be, not at Julie. Never at Julie.

"You're right. I'm absolutely rubbish at maths," Julie says, sitting down with two cups of hot black coffee. "So tell me what I can to do to help."

Maddie pulls her textbook towards her, jabs a finger down at a highlighted section. "Help me memorize this," she says, and Julie does.

 

*

 

It may not be the most brilliant exam Maddie's ever taken. Doesn't even make the top ten. But Maddie's fairly sure she passed at least. She was only stuck on two proofs, and she's pretty certain she got the right answer to at least one of them. She rushes back to the flat from campus, scurrying along the pavement, eager to tell Julie that her flashcards _did_ help and Julie is much better at maths than she thinks and they should get celebratory Thai takeaway because Maddie's not going to fail out of school and become homeless on the streets —

"Fuck, Maddie, is that you? Give me a hand with Stitch!" Julie hollers as soon as Maddie opens the door.

Maddie peers around the living room doorway to see Julie straining to hold the alien still. It's squirming against her arms — no, squirming's the wrong way to put it — it's desperately _pushing_ , scrabbling to get out of Julie's hold. It's surprisingly strong for being so tiny, and Maddie rushes in to help grab it.

"It's been like this for twenty minutes now. Tried to break down the front door earlier," Julie says, panting.

"Did anything happen?"

"Not that I can tell, but who knows — "

But Maddie never gets to find out the rest of the sentence. Stitch lets out its violent screech again, and Maddie can't help but drop her hands to cover her ears. Stitch risks its chance for freedom, diving for the front door — still open — and is down the stairs before they can contain it. Maddie and Julie run out after it — down the front steps of the building, across the street, down past several more buildings, and then — straight across a nearby secondary school's football pitch. Maddie can feel her sides hurting as she runs, watching Stitch bolt further and further away from them with every passing second.

"I can't — " she gasps out when Stitch comes to a sudden stop.

It pads back and forth in a little circle on the pitch, staring up at the sky, its ears twitching. Suddenly, in the space of a blink, the UFO is hovering above them. Maddie jumps, glancing around, but no. It's just — one second it was there when before there had been nothing. Just air.

"It _was_ invisible," Julie murmurs, sounding awestruck. "That'll show those guys on Reddit."

Stitch looks back at them, wiggling its body like a happy dog unable to contain itself. Its giant tail does sweeps in the air. It's so surreal — Maddie's gotten used to Stitch over the course of 24 hours — but she's suddenly confronted with its alienness all over again.

"It's so big," she says dumbly, the shadow of the thing blocking out the sun.

For a few minutes nothing happens. They stand there with Stitch, the spaceship just floating there above them. Maddie glances at Julie, wondering if there's something that's _supposed_ to happen. Like Julie's somehow read a guidebook on what to do when a UFO appears. Stitch stands up on its back legs, staring straight up into the bottom of the spaceship, and a beam of light floats down. Like in movies. Maddie can't believe it's actually real. She watches as Stitch floats up into the beam, getting closer and closer up to the spaceship. It glances back at them, waves a paw, and then — gone. After another second, the spaceship vanishes too.

There's just Maddie and Julie, again, standing alone on a football pitch.

"I haven't even got shoes on," Julie says, as if realizing for the first time.

They both look down at Julie's stockinged feet. It strikes Maddie as absurdly funny and she starts laughing, hard, and Julie starts laughing too. They laugh and laugh until Maddie's body hurts with it, her ribs aching with the effort.

"Let's go home before you freeze," Maddie says, and Julie hooks her arm through Maddie's.

 

*

 

They drink their tea in the living room. The television's on and turned to the news, but neither is really watching — just searching for any hints of the UFO or little blue aliens or two university girls standing on a secondary school football pitch, one without shoes. So far there's been nothing. Julie scrolls through Twitter on her phone, thumbing her way through the hashtag, occasionally reading one aloud for Maddie.

"It's a bit like a dream," Maddie says.

"It's such a good story," Julie adds. "Too bad no one would believe us. Hey, what were you going to tell me when you came home? I totally forgot. Was it about your exam? Did you pass?"

Maddie grins, remembering all over again. "I think so. Yeah. All thanks to you."

"Please, it was all you. Remember, I'm rubbish at maths."

"Better than you think," Maddie says, fond.

Julie puts down her phone and sets her mug on the coffee table in front of them. She's looking at Maddie oh-so-strangely, this odd combination of warmth and something else. Maddie almost wants to pause the moment, hold it still in time so she can remember this look on Julie's face, this strange thing she isn't sure she recognizes or isn't sure she wants to recognize. Maddie lets out a small breath, shaky, as Julie leans in and very carefully presses a kiss to Maddie's mouth. Then, as if she can't resist, another — at the corner of Maddie's lips.

"I think you're amazing," Julie says, so soft, the words barely audible at all.

"Oh," Maddie breathes, unable to find anything to say at all.

Julie presses her hand to Maddie's cheek, scooting closer. Her eyes are so bright. "Maddie, you're brilliant. You let me bring an _alien_ into our flat. You let me drag you around the city, looking for a _spaceship_. And you passed your exam anyway, because nothing can stop you. Not even something as crazy as that."

"I — thank you?" Maddie offers, still feeling like she can't actually get anything of worth out of her mouth.

"You're welcome," Julie says, her thumb still brushing small circles against Maddie's skin. She smiles. "You're so very welcome, my dearest Maddie."

Maddie leans forward and kisses Julie again, bumping their noses gently together. Julie sighs against her, so small and delicate, the experience of her somehow paradoxically totally the same and altogether different from how Maddie imagined this might be. But it's still amazing. Either way, it's amazing.

"So," Maddie says, pulling away a tiny bit.

"So," Julie echoes, and they both laugh.

"I'm thinking of offering to take one of Gran's cats when I see her," Maddie says. "What do you think?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Julie replies.


End file.
